1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor electrical switches for switching radio frequency signals and, more particularly, to such switches which are activated by aplication of photon energy.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
There are applications such as frequency shifting that require the ability to rather rapidly connected and disconnect an RF signal path to pass several hundred watts of signal power. A PIN diode is an ideal candidate for this task. However, switching such PIN diodes "on" or "off" with a biasing power supply is a difficult task.
It is known to utilize PIN diodes which are optically activated (switched on and off) such as by a switched laser to modulate an input signal. However, the light levels necessary to continouosly render conductive the PIN diodes to pass the required RF power is sufficiently great such that overheating of the light source is likely and thus PIN diode switches have not been used for this purpose.